Following his arrest, Furman was admitted to a psychiatric centre in Kamloops where doctors assessed and treated his dementia. Today in court, Crown counsel entered a stay of proceedings, effectively terminating the prosecution.

“Mr. Furman’s a 95-year-old man with severe dementia,” Crown counsel Stephen Lawhead said. “All of the available medical and psychiatric information indicates he’s unfit to stand trial and that there’s no reasonable chance he will ever be fit.”

Lawhead said the evidence indicated Furman was in a delusional state caused by his dementia when he fatally assaulted May. Furman remains confused and disoriented about his current circumstances and those of the assault.

“Obviously a very tragic situation for them, but in all the circumstances they were very understanding,” Lawhead said.

In assessing whether to proceed with the charges, the Crown proceeds if there's a substantial likelihood of conviction and if there is public interest in pursuing the prosecution.

“In all the circumstances there’s no public interest in continuing with the prosecution,” Lawhead said.

Furman will remain at the Hillside Centre in Kamloops under the care of a psychiatric team, Lawhead said. He may eventually be moved to another medical facility, but he will never go home. A release from the Criminal Justice Branch says "the branch has been advised that he will remain in a medical facility with measures available to address any risk that he might present to other patients, to staff or to himself."

John Furman, 95, (left) the accused killer, and William May, 85, the deceased.

Image Credit: Contributed

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.

OPINION Editor, This is a busy time of year, but I find it’s also a time of reflection, particularly as January marks the end of my two-year term as Chair and my 10 years serving on the Board of Interior